BAPTISM!!!!!

Wow, when one thing happens, everything happens. We have done so much this week and I am so glad that I was apart of it all. I am going to start with Monday, because there is so much to write.

On Monday, we woke up at 5:00 in the morning, caught the bus, and went to Rosario!!! We were able to go to the Monument for the Flag here in Argentina! It was so beautiful and huge!! I loved it! The best part was we were able to go to the very top of the monument and look over all of Rosario. It was so beautiful! Rosario is huge! The weather was perfect because it was a little overcast, so not a lot of people were there. We were also able to look at the Parana River. I just loved the whole day. It was a much needed 'vacation' and we had so much fun. :)

On Tuesday, we heard some very sad news. Do you all remember the woman named Maria Luisa that was really sick that we were visiting before? We found out that she passed away from her sickness. :( We walked for about an hour and got to the funeral home to go to the viewing. It was veyr sad to see her like that because we honestly have grown to love her so much. :( her whole family was there and we were able to meet some of them. We weren't able to stay for very long because after that Maria had her baptism interview. It went really well and the district leader said she could get baptized on Saturday! On Wednesday, we went to the funeral of Maria Luisa. The cemetery is so different here! Almost all of the graves are above ground. Or they make little houses and put the coffins inside. It was very different. We had a nice service in the morning and then we drove to the cemetery. She was actually buried underground. It was very different from the states because they lowered her into the ground with rope and threw all the dirt on the coffin while we were all watching. It was very drastic and really hard to watch, but I know that we will be able to see her again and now she isn't suffering. My testimony of the plan of salvation grows every day.

On Saturday, we had the baptism of Maria!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) Her whole family and Pablo were able to come to her baptism! It actually went very smoothly and the spirit was very strong. I am so grateful that she made this decision to be baptized. She is setting huge example for her family that I hope they will follow. :)

On Sunday, so many amazing things happened. Maria was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Holy Ghost. She honestly looked so different. She looked so content and peaceful. Everyone commented on how bright she looked and how happy. I loved to see the change. Also on Sunday, the stake president came and changed the bishopric. We have been working with this family the, Branchini family. About two months ago they started coming to church. On Sunday, Hermano Branchini got put in as the first counselor in the bishopric! and they invited us in to listen to the setting apart. It was so awesome to see how ready he was to have this calling and how excited he was to work. I love the change the gospel makes in people'e lives. Missionary work is so rewarding and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and confidence! I love you all!!

Love,
Hermana Wood :)

Where did this year go?

When we got to our house, there was a picture of the Virgin Mary outside our house, so we took it out and put in Jesus. :)

This is Toby. He is our neighbor's dog. He is so fat and so short and so cute. He is the best!

My shoes at one year....my shoes are invicible. ;)

One year!

Super awesome graffiti! Barrio Acevedo!

I don't know if you can see it...but that house is round. It's like a sphere. There is a whole street completely full of these houses! They are awesome!

I honestly can't believe what I am about to type. I have been in the mission for 1 year!!!!!!!! It has gone by so fast. I can't believe that I only have 6 more months to be here, teaching people, learning, growing, preaching the gospel, sharing my testimony every day of my Savior. But honestly, what I have learned is that the mission is just a training for the rest of my life. A missionary that really learned how to be a representative of Jesus Christ will never stop sharing the gospel. There are people all around us that are waiting to hear the sweet message of the restoration of the gospel. I know that we have the truth and that we can always share the gospel with everyone. :)

First off, we were able to teach Cintia and Mica! They are amazing girls! When we started the lesson, they both had lots of questions because they both read the pamphlet and the introduction of the Book of Mormon! They really want to learn more and we were able to help them understand more about prayer and the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. We invited them to church, but they weren't able to come. :( However, Lucas, one of the less active sons, came to church!! We are helping all of them, and I am super grateful to know them.

Maria moved this week and lives a lot closer now, so we are going to be able to teach her a lot easier. Carmelo and Susana are becoming really distant, and it is sad. We had a really strong lesson with them this week and invited them both to pray again about the Book of Mormon so that they can remember why they are trying to make this change in their lives.

We have been trying to find lots of new people. We found a few new people that we are going to visit this week, Lorena, Gregorio, Ignacio, and Elva. A while ago, some elders passed by this kid named Hugo, so we decided to pass by him yesterday. We got there, and he quickly invited us in. We got to know him and his mom, Yolanda. They are super great and Yolanda told us that she really feels like God sent us to her door. I am excited to teach them!

I am excited for tomorrow because we are going to have a 'special' p-day for all the hermanas in the mission! I am so excited to see everyone and to have lots of fun! Next week also is transfers. We have no idea who is going to leave and who is going to stay because Hermana Christiansen and I have the exact same time here in Acevedo and in the mission....so this week will get super interesting. :) I hope you all have a great week!

Love,>br> Hermana Wood :)

Have Noche de Hogar!! (Family Night)

Our House

This week has gone by so fast! It goes so much faster when you have lots of activites planned and have lots of people to teach!

In this area, Hermana Christiansen and I have been focusing on having lots of Noches de Hogar! That is family night. We have had noche de hogar with active members, part member families, less actives, and investigators! I love feeling the spirit with the families and helping them progress as a family, not individually. Heavenly Father's plan is not that each of us individually makes it to the celestial kingdom...His plan is that the FAMILIES make it to the celestial kingdom, dressed with all the covenants and ordinances necessary that are only found in the temple. When you have this perspective, it makes it a lot easier to help others and love them. All you want for them is to progress. We have about 3 or 4 noches de hogar every week.

This week, we had an awesome noche de hogar with the Familia Vega. They are an active family, but they are struggling to do the little things, like praying and reading the scriptures every night. We shared 3 Nephi 4:10. It talks about how the nephites won the battles. I would write it down...but I only have my spanish scriptures, so not many people would understand it. Basically it talks about putting God before everything and you will go with the strength of God into battle. I know that the scriptures are for us and every single scripture can be applied to our lives.

We also had a noche de hogar with the Familia Fusco and the Familia Bonavita. The familia Bonavita is trying to come back to church and the familia Fusco is their friend that is helping them. This noche de hogar was super fun because we talked about how to share the gospel. Our mission president gave us the great idea to teach the members how to be missionaries! We teach them the mission lessons and help them practice. It is lots of fun and I love hearing the testimonies of all the members. It is awesome!

Then...on Saturday, Hermana Christiansen got really sick and we didn't leave all day. So...I finished the Book of Mormon..again. :) The biggest thing I learned is that miracles come through faith. There are miracles everywhere. Honestly, if a person has faith in Jesus, miracle will happen. I know that if we can have faith, the miracle will come. I have seen so many miracles here on my mission, and I know that if I can keep the faith, they will continue to come.

After church yesterday, we had a noche de hogar with the Familia Branchini. They were less active as well, but now they are coming to church. However, they have two old sons that don't live at home anymore and aren't coming to church. They were there Sunday, so we were able to have the noche de hogar with them. They also both brought their girlfriends, who aren't members. Best noche de hogar ever! We taught the restoration and both of the girlfriends accepted the invitation to be baptized! I love when God puts amazing people in our path. The cutest thing was when Hermano Branchini said to his sons, "And you can both prepare so that you will be able to baptize your girlfriends!" So cute! I hope that we can help all of them progress.

Also, this week was independence day here in Argentina! 9 de Julio! We had a super big primary activity in the stake and Carmelo, Susana, and Maria all came with all their little kids. It was so great to see them there! Everyone is doing super awesome and I love the growth that is happening here! All of the members are becoming more involved and happier to help with the Lord's work. I love being a missionary and I am super excited to see what else happens! I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Wood